Received; read twice and referred to the
Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs

AN ACT

To provide that 4 of the 12 weeks of
parental leave made available to a Federal employee shall be paid leave, and
for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the
Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave
Act of 2009.

2.

Paid parental
leave under title 5

(a)

Amendment to
title 5

Subsection (d) of
section
6382 of title 5, United States Code, is amended—

(1)

by redesignating such subsection as
subsection (d)(1);

(2)

by striking
subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or and inserting subparagraph
(C) or; and

(3)

by
adding at the end the following:

(2)

An employee may elect to substitute
for any leave without pay under subparagraph (A) or (B) of subsection (a)(1)
any paid leave which is available to such employee for that purpose.

(3)

The paid leave that is available to
an employee for purposes of paragraph (2) is—

(A)

subject to paragraph (6), 4
administrative workweeks of paid parental leave under this subparagraph in
connection with the birth or placement involved; and

(B)

any annual or sick leave accrued or
accumulated by such employee under subchapter I.

(4)

Nothing in this subsection shall be
considered to require that an employee first use all or any portion of the
leave described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3) before being allowed to
use the paid parental leave described in subparagraph (A) of paragraph
(3).

(5)

Paid parental leave under paragraph
(3)(A)—

(A)

shall be payable from any
appropriation or fund available for salaries or expenses for positions within
the employing agency;

(B)

shall not be considered to be annual
or vacation leave for purposes of section 5551 or 5552 or for any other
purpose; and

(C)

if not used by the employee before the
end of the 12-month period (as referred to in subsection (a)(1)) to which it
relates, shall not accumulate for any subsequent use.

(6)

The Director of the Office of
Personnel Management—

(A)

may promulgate regulations to increase the
amount of paid parental leave available to an employee under paragraph (3)(A),
to a total of not more than 8 administrative workweeks, based on the
consideration of—

(i)

the benefits provided to the Federal
Government of offering increased paid parental leave, including enhanced
recruitment and retention of employees;

(ii)

the cost to the Federal Government
of increasing the amount of paid parental leave that is available to
employees;

(iii)

trends in the private sector and
in State and local governments with respect to offering paid parental
leave;

(iv)

the Federal Government’s role as a
model employer;

(v)

the impact of increased paid
parental leave on lower-income and economically disadvantaged employees and
their children; and

(vi)

such other factors as the Director
considers necessary; and

(B)

shall prescribe any regulations
necessary to carry out this subsection, including, subject to paragraph (4),
the manner in which an employee may designate any day or other period as to
which such employee wishes to use paid parental leave described in paragraph
(3)(A).

.

(b)

Effective
date

The amendment made by this section shall not be effective
with respect to any birth or placement occurring before the end of the 6-month
period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.

in subsection
(a)(1), by adding at the end the following: In applying section
102(a)(1)(A) and (B) of such Act to covered employees, subsection (d) shall
apply.;

(2)

by redesignating
subsections (d) and (e) as subsections (e) and (f), respectively; and

(3)

by inserting after
subsection (c) the following:

(d)

Special rule for
paid parental leave for Congressional employees

(1)

Substitution of
paid leave

A covered employee taking leave without pay under
subparagraph (A) or (B) of section 102(a)(1) of the Family and Medical Leave
Act of 1993 (29
U.S.C. 2612(a)(1)) may elect to substitute for any such leave
any paid leave which is available to such employee for that purpose.

(2)

Amount of paid
leave

The paid leave that is available to a covered employee for
purposes of paragraph (1) is—

(A)

the number of weeks
of paid parental leave in connection with the birth or placement involved that
correspond to the number of administrative workweeks of paid parental leave
available to Federal employees under
section
6382(d)(3)(A) of title 5, United States Code; and

(B)

any additional
paid vacation or sick leave provided by the employing office to such
employee.

(3)

Limitation

Nothing in this subsection shall be
considered to require that an employee first use all or any portion of the
leave described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) before being allowed to
use the paid parental leave described in subparagraph (A) of paragraph
(2).

(4)

Additional
rules

Paid parental leave under paragraph (2)(A)—

(A)

shall be payable
from any appropriation or fund available for salaries or expenses for positions
within the employing office; and

(B)

if not used by the covered employee before
the end of the 12-month period (as referred to in section 102(a)(1) of the
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1))) to which it
relates, shall not accumulate for any subsequent
use.

.

(b)

Effective
date

The amendment made by this section shall not be effective
with respect to any birth or placement occurring before the end of the 6-month
period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.

4.

Conforming
amendment to Family and Medical Leave Act for GAO and Library of Congress
employees

(a)

Amendment to
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993

Section 102(d) of the Family and Medical
Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(d)) is amended by
adding at the end the following:

(3)

Special rule for
GAO and Library of Congress employees

(A)

Substitution of
paid leave

An employee of an employer described in section
101(4)(A)(iv) taking leave under subparagraph (A) or (B) of subsection (a)(1)
may elect to substitute for any such leave any paid leave which is available to
such employee for that purpose.

(B)

Amount of paid
leave

The paid leave that is
available to an employee of an employer described in section 101(4)(A)(iv) for
purposes of subparagraph (A) is—

(i)

the number of weeks of paid parental leave
in connection with the birth or placement involved that correspond to the
number of administrative workweeks of paid parental leave available to Federal
employees under section 6382(d)(3)(A) of title 5,
United States Code; and

(ii)

any additional
paid vacation or sick leave provided by such employer.

(C)

Limitation

Nothing in this paragraph shall be
considered to require that an employee first use all or any portion of the
leave described in clause (ii) of subparagraph (B) before being allowed to use
the paid parental leave described in clause (i) of such subparagraph.

(D)

Additional
rules

Paid parental leave under subparagraph (B)(i)—

(i)

shall be payable from any appropriation or
fund available for salaries or expenses for positions with the employer
described in section 101(4)(A)(iv); and

(ii)

if not used by
the employee of such employer before the end of the 12-month period (as
referred to in subsection (a)(1)) to which it relates, shall not accumulate for
any subsequent
use.

.

(b)

Effective
date

The amendment made by
this section shall not be effective with respect to any birth or placement
occurring before the end of the 6-month period beginning on the date of the
enactment of this Act.

5.

Clarification for
members of the National Guard and Reserves

(a)

Executive branch
employees

For purposes of
determining the eligibility of an employee who is a member of the National
Guard or Reserves to take leave under paragraph (1)(A) or (B) of
section
6382(a) of title 5, United States Code, or to substitute such
leave pursuant to paragraph (2) of such section (as added by section 2), any
service by such employee on active duty (as defined in section 6381(7) of such
title) shall be counted as service as an employee for purposes of section
6381(1)(B) of such title.

(b)

Congressional
Employees

For purposes of
determining the eligibility of a covered employee (as such term is defined in
section 101(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act) who is a member of the
National Guard or Reserves to take leave under subparagraph (A) or (B) of
section 102(a)(1) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (pursuant to
section 202(a)(1) of the Congressional Accountability Act), or to substitute
such leave pursuant to subsection (d) of section 202 of such Act (as added by
section 3), any service by such employee on active duty (as defined in section
101(14) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993) shall be counted as time
during which such employee has been employed in an employing office for
purposes of section 202(a)(2)(B) of the Congressional Accountability
Act.

(c)

GAO and Library
of Congress Employees

For
purposes of determining the eligibility of an employee of the Government
Accountability Office or Library of Congress who is a member of the National
Guard or Reserves to take leave under subparagraph (A) or (B) of section
102(a)(1) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, or to substitute such
leave pursuant to paragraph (3) of section 102(d) of such Act (as added by
section 4), any service by such employee on active duty (as defined in section
101(14) of such Act) shall be counted as time

during which such
employee has been employed for purposes of section 101(2)(A) of such
Act.